Retrievable anchor means



Dec. 6, 1949 T. E. MOAVQY ZAQQAGQ RETRIEVABLE ANCHOR MEANS Fil ed July 9, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

- Theodore E. MQAvoy Dec. 6, 1949 T. E. McAvoY 2,490,460

RETRIEVABLE ANCHOR MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1948 INVENTOR. Theodore E. MQAvoy Patented Dec. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BETRIEVABLE ANCHOR'ME'ANS Theodore E. McAvoy,-Chicago,1ll.

Application July 9, 1948, Serial 'No. 7 ,""7 6 8 Claims.

My invention relates to retrievable anchor devices and bears particular relation to use in connection with anchor lines used in fishing.

Anchor prongs of anchor line often become so "firmly embedded in the battom or bed of the body "of water, that they can not be released by direct pull on the anchor line; therefore, I have devised a 'retrievable anchor means, having an anchor retrieving line attached from the anchor line to the bottom end of the anchor, which will cause the said anchor means to be disengaged from the water bottom by changin the direction of the resultant pull on the anchor when connection between the said locking plunger assembly means and a locking plunger body means; thus, separating the direct connection between the anchor line means and the anchor means, causing the anchor retrieving line to retrieve the said anchor means.

A further object of my invention is to provide frictionally held locking pin means to maintain the locking plunger body means and locking plunger assembly means in normal locking engagement when in use.

A further object of my invention is to provide compression spring and trip pin means, which when sharply activated will cause the disengagement of the locking means between the locking plunger and the sai lockingpin means.

A still further object or my invention is to provide water passage epenings and relief passages in the retrievable anchor means to facilitate the spring urged piston action thereof.

A further object of my invention is to provide a workable retrievable anchor means of compact design that may be economically manufactured in large quantities.

Other objects and advantages embraced in invention Will be disclosed in the following description, and in the accompanying illustrations,

in which:

Fig. 1 is a side View of my invention, partl in cross-section and showing an anchor embedded in the bed of a body of water, and connected by my retrievable anchor means to the anchor line.

Fig. 2 is a small perspective view of my retrievable anchor means showing its locking plunger body means and locking plunger assembly means separated, and the anchor being retrieved.

Fig. 3 is a side View of my retrievable anchor "means, showing the separated positions of its various parts, as th ra being retfived from the water. v

Fig."4= i'sa crosssectional view of my'invention,

taken subs'tantially on line 4-4 on Figure '1.

Fig.5 is-'a P'ro'ss -s'ec'zti'on'al view of invention, taken substantially on line '55 (in Figure rena "showing the locking pin means thereof.

Fig.6 is an "enlarged fragmentary cross-"sectional view taken "substantially "on line 6- 6 *on Figure 1, and showing the 'friction plug means "of my invention.

Referring to the illustrations, my invention is generally designated 1, "and consists of locking plunger body means 8, lo'ckin'g'plunger assembly means 'l"3,'ai1chbr means 3|, and "anchor line means 2 9. The said locking plunger body-means 8 preferably'has' a tapered anchor attaching and 9,"i'n which an eye l0;p'r'ovide's means for attaching the connecting line 3!! to attaching 'eye'ea in anchor means 3|. Said anchor means '31 is provided with-{multiple anchor prongs which are Sho'Wh'ih Figure 1, embedded in the bed 3'5 of a body of "water' 35.

'The locki'i'ig'b'ody means 8 is provided with a bored 7 opening II, to accommodate locking plunger assembly ineans13, which is shown in locking position with lockingplun'ger body means 8, in'Figure lan'din'unlocked and separated positions'inFigures '2 and 3. The said'locking'plunger assembly meansla consists of a plunger shaft {T4, havin 'at its top end aline attaching eye f5 for attachment to the anchor line means 29.

A locking plunger 16 is slidably mounted on plunger shaft 14, and a piston head I"! is fixedly attached at the inner end of said plunger'sh'a'ft M. The outward movement of locking plunger !6 is limited -by trip pin means 20 in plunger shaft l4, and it is held in place by a compression spring 19 coiled aboutplunger shaft [4, between piston head I! and said locking plunger 16. The piston head "is provided with a number of piston head cut-outs [8, which together'with enumber of water passage openings l2 at the lower end of locking plunger body means 8, allows water 35 to flow freely into and out of bored opening-H so that water pressure will nbtbuild up therein, to prevent the proper operation of locking plunger assembly means i3. Said locking plunger :assembly means I3 is held locked in place within bored opening I l by alock pin element 24 together with a locliing groove 2 [about the circumference of locking plunger [6. The said locking pin 'el'ement 24 is mounted within lock pin bore 23 "in lockin pin "mounting log 22, which is formed at the upper end of locking plunger body means '8. The said locking pin element 24 has a tapered cam surface '25 on its inner "end, which engages the locking groove2l, when in locked position as shown in solid lines in "Figure 1. v

Friction ping means 28 having "a screw plug '38 and spring 31 is mounted in enlarged threaded bore 39 in look pin mounting lug 22 and serves together with slotted locking and pin retaining portion 26 of lock pin element 24 to frictionally maintain the said locking pin element 24 in either a depressed locked position, or a raised unlocked position, as shown by solid and dotted lines in Figure 1. The said slotted pin retaining portion 26 prevents the pin element 24 from being pulled out of bore 23 and lost. The outer end of lock pin element 24 may be knurled as at 21 for easier manipulation thereof, when necessary.

An anchor retrieving line 321s connected to the anchor line 29 and to the eye 33 at the bottom of anchor 3I. said retrieving line 32 is long enough to permit uncoupling of the component elements of the opening I I and locked in place by depressing lock pin element 24, and the retrievable anchor means is properly anchored in a desirable place on the bed 36 of a body of water designated 35. To retrieve the anchor, a steady pull is first exerted on anchor line 29. If the anchor does not become disengaged a sharp pull and a quick release is effectuated on anchor line 29. This causes plunger shaft I4 to first move sharply outward and then sharply downward in the direction of arrows 4D in Figure 1, during which action trip pin means 20 will strike locking plunger I6, causing it by the return pull of compression spring I9 to depress locking plunger IE, to a point far enough within bored opening II to push lock pin element 2 out of locking groove 2I. Since looking pin element 24 is frictionally held, it will therefore remain in this unlocked and disengaged position, allowing locking plunger assembly means I3 to be drawn from bored opening I I as shown in Figure 2. Since there is no longer a locking connection between locking plunger body means 8 and locking plunger assembly means I3, a continued pull on anchor line 29 will through anchor retrieving line 32 cause the disengagement and retrieving of anchor means 3|, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3.

A principal advantage of my retrievable anchor means resides in its simple fool-proof construction, which may be used over and over indefinitely without the replacing of parts as is required by most anchor retrieving means in present use, which depend upon the breaking of a weak breaking line to retrieve the anchor, which line has to be replaced each time.

It should be noted that the Although my invention has been described, the

the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, and anchor retrieving line means connected to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means.

2. Retrievable anchor means comprising, anchor means, locking plunger body means, locking plunger assembly means releasably secured to the said body means, flexible means interconnecting the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, and anchor retrieving line means connetced to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means, the said locking plunger body means including a bored opening, lock pin mounting lug means adjacent the top thereof and in transverse relation thereto, lock pin means slidably positioned in said lock pin mounting lug means, and friction plug means mounted in said lock pin mounting lug means adapted to maintain the said lock pin means in operative and inoperative positions.

3. Retrievable anchor means comprising, anchor means, locking plunger body means, locking plunger assembly means releasably secured to the said body means, flexible means interconnecting the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, and anchor retriving line means connected to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means, the said locking plunger assembly means including plunger shaft means, piston head means secured to the lower portion thereof, locking plunger means slidably secured on the said plunger shaft means, resilient means coiled about the said plunger shaft means and confined between the said piston head means and the said locking plunger means, and trip pin means secured to the said plunger shaft means adapted to trip and disengage the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means.

4. Retrievable anchor means comprising, anchor means, locking plunger body means, locking plunger assembly means releasably secured to the said body means, flexible means interconnecting the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, anchor retrieving line means conected to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means, the said locking plunger body means including a bored opening, a lock pin mounting lug means adjacent the top thereof and in transverse relation thereto, lock pin means slidably positioned in said lock pin mounting lug means,

and friction plug means mounted in said lock pin mounting lug means adapted to maintain the said lock pin means in operative and inoperative positions, the said locking plunger assembly means including plunger shaft means, piston head means secured to the lower portion thereof, locking plunger means slidably secured on the said plunger shaft means, resilient means coiled about the said plunger shaft means and confined between the said piston head means and the said locking plunger means, and trip pin means secured to the said plunger shaft means adapted to trip and disengage the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means.

5. Betrievable anchor means comprising, anchor means, locking plunger body means, locking plunger assembly means releasably secured to the said body means, flexible means interconnecting the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, and anchor retrieving line means connected to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means, the said locking plunger body means being provided With Water passage openings, the said locking plunger assembly means comprising a piston head having cut-out portions to facilitate the release of the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means.

6. Retrievable anchor means comprising, anchor means, locking plunger body means, looking plunger assembly means releasably secured to the said body means, flexible means interconnecting the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, and anchor retrieving line means connected to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means, the said looking plunger body means including a bored opening, lock pin mounting lug means adjacent the top thereof and in transverse relation thereto, lock pin means slidably positioned in said lock pin mounting lug means, and friction plug means mounted in said lock pin mounting lug means adapted to maintain the said lock pin means in operative and inoperative positions, the said looking plunger body means being provided with water passage openings, the said locking plunger assembly means comprising a piston head having cut-out portions to facilitate the release of the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means.

7. Retrievable anchor means comprising, anchor means, locking plunger body means, locking plunger assembly means releasably secured to the said body means, flexible means interconnecting the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, and anchor retrieving line means connected to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means, the said looking "lunger assembly means including plunger shaft means, piston head means secured to the lower portion thereof, locking plunger means slidably secured on the said plunger shaft means, resilient means coiled about the said plunger shaft means and confined between the said piston head means and the said locking plunger means, and trip pin means secured to the said plunger shaft means adapted to trip and disengage the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger body means being provided with water passage openings, the said locking plunger assembly means being provided with piston head cut-out portions for the piston head to facilitate the release of the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means.

8. Retrievable anchor means comprising, anchor means, locking plunger body means, looking plunger assembly means releasably secured to the said body means, flexible means interconnecting the top of said anchor means to the bottom of the said locking plunger body means, anchor line means secured to the free end of the said locking plunger assembly means, anchor retrieving line means connected to the said anchor line means and to the bottom of the said anchor means and having a length exceeding the combined lengths of the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger assembly means and the said flexible means, the said locking plunger body means, including a bored opening, lock pin mounting lug means adjacent the top thereof and. in transverse relation thereto, lock pin means slidably positioned in said loci: pin mounting lug means, and friction plug means mounted in said lock pin mounting lug means adapted to maintain the said lock pin means in operative and inoperative positions, the said locking plunger assembly means including plunger shaft means, piston head means secured to the lower portion thereof, locking plunger means slidably secured on the said plunger shaft means, resilient means coiled about the said plunger shaft means and confined between the said piston head means and the said locking plunger means, and trip pin means secured to the said plunger shaft means adapted to trip and disengage the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means, the said locking plunger body means being provided with water passage openings, the said locking plunger assembly means being provided With piston head cut-out portions for the piston head to facilitate the release of the said locking plunger assembly means from the said locking plunger body means.

THEODORE E. McAVOY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 943,127 Van Boven Dec. 14, 1909 1,583,795 Pasturzak May 11, 1926 1,782,449 Siebert Nov. 25, 1930 

